


waging wars to shape the poet and the beat

by caitlesshea



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: 1947 crash, M/M, Soft Michael Guerin, alex and forrest invite him to stay, aliens are real, michael finds out who walt is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:14:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24825874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitlesshea/pseuds/caitlesshea
Summary: Michael finds out who Walt is. There's only one person he wants to tell.
Relationships: Forrest Long/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin & Alex Manes
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	waging wars to shape the poet and the beat

“I found him.” Michael says breathlessly as Alex opens the door. 

“What?” 

“I found him, Walt.” Michael pauses to look at Alex all sleep rumbled and frankly adorable. He’s rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he adjusts his crutches to lean against the door. 

“Walt?” Alex asks and then shakes his head. “Holy shit, who is he?”

“Sanders.” 

Alex wakes up fully. “Sanders? Your Sanders?” 

Michael laughs as he starts to pace. “Yes! This whole time!” 

“Michael, I - ”

“He said that he knew who we were all along and that’s why he always let us hang around the junkyard and that’s why he let me sleep on his couch when I was a teenager.”

“That’s, Michael - ”

“He never took me in because he was still scared of the Air Force after the night of the fire, but he knew. He knew my mom, Alex.” 

Alex shoves him away from the door and makes his way outside as he closes the door behind him. 

“Michael - ”

“He let me see her. He let Isobel mind walk and she pulled me in and I heard her voice and I saw them dancing and I just...”

Michael wipes the tears from his eyes as he recalls how _beautiful_ his mother was. 

“Michael.” Alex lays a hand on his arm and says his name for what has to be the fourth time. Michael looks at him and it seems like he’s going to say something else when they’re interrupted.

“Your mother was around during the fire on our farm?” Forrest asks as they both startle and turn towards him. 

Forrest is in similar sweatpants to Alex and the front door is open. It hits Michael then, what Alex was trying to get his attention for. 

“How was your mother involved in a fire in 1948?” 

* * *

“Wha?” Michael barely chokes out as he freezes from head to toe. Everything is too hot and too cold all at once. 

“Forrest.” Alex tries to placate Forrest but he’s not listening, asking question after question. 

Michael feels like he can’t breathe and like his heart is going to beat right out of his chest. He feels like he’s gasping for air and he can’t bring his hands up to his hair like he wants too. 

“Forrest. He’s panicking. Can you go inside, please? I’ll explain, I promise.”

“No.” Michael breathes out and tries to suck in a lung full of air. 

“Michael.” He can hear Alex, he thinks, but he doesn’t want to listen. 

Vaguely he hears music start playing from somewhere. An old song he hasn’t heard in years. He feels himself start to relax a little, enough where he can start to pace. After a couple of laps around Alex’s patio he finally feels like the vice on his chest has let up and he grabs at his curls. 

“Michael.” 

Michael pauses at Alex’s voice and turns to look at him.

“What do you need?” 

“I - ” Michael tries to think of something, anything, but he shakes his head again and Alex leans back down on his crutches as Michael paces.

“Is he?” Michael speaks after a moment, unsure of what he’s even asking.

“Do you want me to call Isobel?” Alex asks quietly and Michael shakes his head, because no, he doesn’t want her using her powers on Forrest. 

Michael must say the last part out loud because Alex starts to move towards the door.

“Come inside.” 

“‘Lex.”

“Michael.” 

Michael still feels jittery but he follows Alex inside and makes a beeline for the couch and curls up with his favorite blanket, one Alex bought years ago. He wraps it around his shoulders, calmed by the familiar smell, and finally notices that Alex left his phone on the coffee table while it plays music softly. 

“I’m gonna go get my leg.” Alex says loudly enough for everyone to hear and Michael nods shakily. 

Forrest pads into the living room a moment later with a mug in his hand that he sets in front of Michael. 

“Cinnamon tea. Alex’s favorite.” Forrest says quietly, clearly aware that Michael hasn’t fully calmed down. 

Michael takes the mug, letting the heat seep into his bones and sips slowly. He stares at Forrest, at his sweat pants and T-shirt, and slightly skewed hair. He wonders briefly how long this thing between Forrest and Alex has been going on. But then he figures he doesn’t have a right to ask. 

“You need anything else?” Forrest asks as he tucks his legs under him. 

“No.” Michael rasps out then wonders how Forrest knows not to make a lot of noise.

“Not my first panic attack.” Forrest answers the question Michael didn’t realize he had even asked. 

Panic attack. That sounds right, even while he tries to calm down. 

“Hey.” Alex walks back into the room and runs a hand over Forrest’s shoulder as he passes him a water and places another one in front of Michael. 

Michael puts the tea down, grateful for the cold water as it hits the back of his throat. 

“Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Alex says as he sits down in another chair. He has a folder that Michael recognizes as the After Action Report written by Tripp Manes in 1947. 

“An After Action Report?” Forrest asks and Alex nods. Michael wonders how he knows that when it clicks.

“You’re military?” 

“Was.” Forrest shrugs as he shares a small, private smile with Alex. Michael’s pretty sure he hates it. 

“Go ahead.” Michael says after a moment.

“Are you sure?” 

“Do you trust him?” 

Alex looks at Michael first but then he turns to Forrest and squeezes his hand. 

“Yes.” Alex says with conviction and Michael smiles a little sadly. 

“Go ahead.” 

Alex hands Forrest the report and it’s quite possibly the longest few minutes of his life. He watches as Forrest flicks back and forth between Alex, Michael, and the report. His breath catches every so often. 

Forrest’s fingers come up and run through his hair, free of all of his rings for the first time. Michael can tell when he gets to the part where his mother and Louise were attacked because he grips the papers tightly, to the point where Michael fears they’re going to rip. 

Alex carefully puts his hand on top of Forrest’s and the shaking stops. 

“This is…” Forrest looks between the two of them.

“All true.” Alex says. 

“And you.” Forrest looks at Michael. “You’re one of the…”

“I was in the pod, yeah. Hatched around 1997.” Michael says a lot steadier then he feels. 

“So it really is cowboys and aliens?” 

Michael can’t help it, he laughs. Alex and Forrest look at him for a moment before they join in.

“Yeah. It really is.” 

~~~

It takes them well into the morning but they finally manage to tell Forrest everything. Michael was afraid he was going to leave when they brought up what really happened to his cousin Kate but he just said he needed space and went outside to Alex’s back patio. 

Forrest came back inside after thirty minutes and asked them to tell him the rest, the historian in him too intrigued to not find out everything. 

Now, Michael’s laying down on Alex’s couch, still wrapped up in his favorite blanket, watching the sun dance across the windows. They all decided to get a couple of hours of sleep before they talked some more but Michael’s too wound up to get more than a couple of small bursts of sleep. 

He’s always loved Alex’s house and how it has always felt like home. He sees little trinkets all around of their life together and it feels like his chest might crack open. Because mixed in with all of Alex’s things and their things, are now Forrest’s things. 

The wall hooks that he installed by the front door have Forrest’s leather jacket hanging on them. 

The table Alex picked out at an antiques store that Michael got tons of pictures of, has Forrest’s notebooks and laptop on it. 

The bookcase that Michael fixed up has a couple of Forrest’s novels on a shelf. 

He doesn’t know how he missed it, Alex moving on and finding someone else, but he did. 

“He wanted to tell you.” Forrest says as he walks into the living room. Michael startles at the sudden sound, wondering how Forrest knew what he was thinking.

“I didn’t. You just had a look on your face.” 

“I really can’t believe I keep talking without realizing it.” Michael scrubs at his face as he sits up on the couch, letting the blanket pool in his lap.

“It happens.” Forrest shrugs as he sits down and passes Michael a water.

“Thanks.” Michael basically drinks the entire water in one go. 

“Is Alex still sleeping?”

“Yeah. But I’m sure he’ll be up soon, he can never sleep when others are awake.” 

“Yeah.” Michael says quietly when he realizes that Forrest knows things about Alex that only a lover would know.

“How long?” 

Forrest doesn’t look surprised at the question but he hesitates to answer.

“Not long. A couple of months in total if you count our fumbling first dates.” Forrest smiles like he’s replaying a memory and it makes Michael ache. 

“I’m happy for you.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah. It’s…” Michael doesn’t really know what it is, but he knows he wants Alex to be happy. “You make him happy.” 

“He makes me happy.” Forrest smiles and it lights up his face. Michael can tell why Alex likes him, he’s charming, he’s funny, and he’s open in a way that Michael never could be, not with all the secrets he’s keeping. 

“You make me happy, too.” Alex says quietly as he walks into the room. Both of them look up at him and Forrest smiles as Alex squeezes his shoulder. Michael realizes now that they’re avoiding any PDA because he’s here. Suddenly it’s all too much.

“Hey. Thanks for letting me crash, but I should head out. Got a car to take apart today.” Michael starts to get up but Alex walks over and pushes him back down on the couch.

“Stay. I’ll make lunch.” 

“But - ”

“Michael. I want you to stay.” 

Michael looks up at Alex and he can tell he’s sincere. This new Alex, the one who says what he wants, is intoxicating and Michael doesn’t really want to leave.

He looks over at Forrest and sees him nodding. 

“Okay.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come find me on Tumblr - same username!


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